1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tape rule, and more particularly, to a tape rule having a locking mechanism for fixing a drawn out measuring tape, and a brake shoe for reducing the winding back speed of the measuring tape together.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Most of conventional tape rules are generally equipped with springs in housings for winding back measuring tapes. For such a tape rule, in order to prevent a sudden re-winding of the tape on duty by a spring function, a locking mechanism is usually provided to lock the drawn out tape at its position. A tape rule disclosed in Japan Patent No. Shio 51-56664 is a typical example.
Meanwhile, such a tape rule is dangerous due to resilient force of the spring that the tape is apt to beat the user's hand when it is winding back into the housing after the measuring work is finished. For a remedy, a speed reducing device for re-winding tape is provided as disclosed by following four Japanese patents Hei No. 10-89901, Hei 6-28601, 3014697, and Hei 10-232102.
It is preferable that both locking mechanism and brake device are provided together using a common push button for simplifying operation. A tape rule with such structure was disclosed in Japanese Patent Sio No. 59-47802. However, in this example, locking mechanism and brake device are formed by individual device and assembling two parts together such that the push button of the locking mechanism can be used to operate the brake device. As a result, the entire structure of a tape rule becomes so complicated with a lot of parts involved that the cost and fault rate are increased. In addition, in a known tape rule constructed as such whose brake device is functional from the beginning and only operative to release the brake function later will make the user hard to control tape retraction speed according to his/her will.